Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
by Alice Meri Fox
Summary: This is gonna be really crappy, with few updates. I promise it will get finished by the end of the year. Rating may go up. Indy/OC
1. Chapter 1

A/n: Okay, so no one's told me whether or not I should go with my original again, so I am! As always, if you don't like it, you don't have to read it.

XXXXX

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

Military Base, Nevada, 1957

The cars shook as they moved quickly down the dirt roadways. Indiana, Eva, and George "Mac" McHale were shoved uncomfortably in the trunk of one of the cars. "Whoever's on my leg needs to get off," Eva groaned as her left leg throbbed in pain. "I can't feel my toes."

Mac moved as well as he could in the cramped space and Eva pulled her twisted ankle out from under him. "Where are they taking us, Jonesey?"

"I don't know, Mac," Indiana replied from underneath his hat. "We've been in this trunk for about two hours since we got off the plane."

The car stopped and the three became silent. After a few moments there was the sound of gunfire and bodies hitting the ground. The cars began to move again and the three remained silent, each of them on high alert. The cars began moving and Eva used the sound of the engines to predict how far they were going before they stopped again. "One mile, sir," she said in military fashion.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," Indiana murmured, taking his hat off, before the hood of the trunk was lifted. Three men pulled Mac and Eva out and threw them towards the warehouse the convoy had stopped at. Indiana's hat was thrown to the ground followed by Indiana himself. Indiana pulled himself up and placed his hat firmly back on his head. "Russians," he said scornfully as he held Eva in his arms to help her stand off her twisted ankle.

"This ain't gonna be easy," Mac said as he was pushed over to them, his arms raised in surrender.

"Not as easy as it used to be."

"Well, we've been through worse."

"Yeah? When?"

"Flensburg. There were twice as many."

"We were younger then," Eva chimed in remembering the sound of gunshots in the streets as the three of them and a handful of others prepared themselves for the final attack on enemy soldiers.

"I still am young," Mac exclaimed indignantly.

"We had guns," Indiana said looking back to Mac who still had his arms raised. "Put your hands down, will you? You're embarrassing us."

Mac put his arms down and tapped Indiana on the arm. "Bet you $500 we get out of this." A jeep pulled up and stopped quickly in front of them a bit and a Russian Colonel walked up to them menacingly. Mac grunted in dismay. "Let's call it 100."

The Colonel pushed Mac and Eva away and pointed to the warehouse behind Indiana. "You recognize building, yes?"

Indiana turned and saw a few Russian soldiers dragging the bodies of American soldiers across the front doors of the warehouse. Indiana turned to the Colonel and said, "Drop dead." The Colonel was not pleased with this answer and backhanded Indiana across the face, causing both Eva and Mac to jump. Indiana rearranged his jaw and turned back to the Colonel. "I'm sorry," Indiana ground our sarcastically. "I meant drop dead, comrade."

The Colonel said something in Russian and two men restrained Indiana from behind. The Colonel handed his hat to a soldier behind him and pulled his fist back to strike Indiana for his insolence. Before a punch could be thrown a female voice cut through the air, demanding to be obeyed.

A woman exited a new car that had pulled up and walked to the group, meeting the Colonel half way. "Where was he found?"

"In Mexico," the Colonel said reaching into the open trunk to pull out a wrapped object. "They were digging in the dirt, looking for this stuff." He unwrapped the object and let it fall to the ground, causing it to break.

The woman crossed over to Indiana who was released from his restraint. "You're not from around here, are you," Indiana asked before he pulled Eva back to him.

"Where is it you would imagine I am from, Doctor Jones," she questioned, taking off her sunglasses.

"Well, the way you're sinking your teeth into those wubble-u's, I should think maybe Eastern Ukraine," Eva said when Indiana looked down at her for the answer.

"Highest marks," the woman said taking a glove off her hand and offering it to the couple. "Colonel Doctor Irina Spalko." When neither of them took it she continued, "Three times I have received Order of Lenin. Also medal as Hero of Socialist Labor." She walked over to where Mac was standing and then back again. "And why? Because I know things. I know them before anyone else. And what I do not know, I find out." She stopped in front of Indiana again. "Now, what I need to know now is in here," she said pointing to his forehead.

She pulled her hand back and looked deeply into him as if she were trying to read his mind. She closed her eyes as if to get a clearer picture. Indiana only chuckled lightly and pulled Eva back a bit. Spalko opened her eyes and tapped Indiana's face hard. "You are a hard man to read, Doctor Jones."

"Ouch," Eva snickered quietly.

"So, we will do this, what is expression, old-fashioned way," she said, turning away and putting her glove back on. "You will tell us. You will help us find what we seek." She walked past them and ordered the doors opened. As she walked in, Spalko continued, "This warehouse is where you and your government have hidden all your secrets, yes?"

"This is a military warehouse," Indiana argued as the three of them were forced to follow Spalko inside. "I've never been here before in my life."

Spalko looked at him skeptically and then walked back to and around him. "Object we seek, rectangular storage container, dimensions 2 meters by .5 meters by 66 centimeters. Contents of box, mummified remains. This is no doubt familiar to you."

"What makes you think I've got any idea what box you're talking about?"

"Because, ten years ago you were part of the team that examined it." She walked back towards him.

He took a few steps towards her. "Look…" Spalko unsheathed her rapier and pointed it to Indiana's neck as the Russians behind them cocked their weapons. "Even if I knew what you were talking about…"

"You will help us find it," Spalko said forcefully and another gun was cocked. Indiana turned around and saw Eva was surrounded by Russians, each one pointing a gun at her. One of them had a gun to her head and was staring her down, unsuccessfully.

Indiana sighed and nodded to Spalko. Her words released Eva back to Indiana and they both led the KGB party further into the warehouse. Indiana stopped a little further in and turned around. "Compass. I need a compass. You know, north, south, east…"

"West," Mac added as he walked closer to the pair.

Indiana smirked at him. "No compass?" He walked up to the Colonel. "I need your bullets." The Colonel laughed and repeated it in Russian making the KGB party laugh as well. Indiana walked past the Colonel to Spalko. "The contents of that box are highly magnetized. I need gunpowder. You want my help or not?"

In no time a grenade was emptied into Indiana's open hand and he climbed the nearest tower of boxes. "Don't toy with me, Doctor Jones. What is the point of all this," Spalko questioned from below.

"If it's still magnetic, the metal in this gunpowder should point the way." Indiana threw the powder into the air and the group watched as it floated away, hitting the lights. Indiana quickly made his way down and led the group to follow the direction of the gunpowder as grenades were emptied into a hat in his hands.

The group stopped at an intersection and Indiana threw the powder up into the air. The powder flew into a stack of boxes. "Shells. Give me some shotgun shells." He held the hat to the side and a Russian gave him three. "Pliers." He was handed the tool and he threw the hat behind him before climbing the boxes. Once at the top he emptied the shotgun shells over the boxes.

Spalko ordered the boxes removed until one of the boxes was spotted as the one they wanted. The Russians pocked up the box and carried it to the back end of a truck that had been driven in while other took care of the boxes. Indiana was pressed to get onto ground level.

From their place at the back of the group, Indiana, Eva, and Mac couldn't see what was in the box, or what was happening to it after it had been opened. Spalko handed a knife back to one of the soldiers and a ripping sound filled the air, followed by silent awe. Indiana used this distraction to knock out the soldier in front of them with his own weapon. Quickly grabbing his whip from around the soldiers arm, he used it to disarm another soldier and arm Mac.

He reached down for the fallen gun and pointed it at Spalko while the soldiers in front of her pointed theirs at him. "Drop the guns, or Colonel Doctor Spalko is dead," Indiana ordered as Mac and Eva stepped closer to him. The soldiers lowered their guns. The Colonel, who was at the head of the group, smirked at them a moment later and raised his gun to Indiana again.

There was a cocking sound beside Indiana and he looked to see Mac pointing his gun at Indiana. "Why, Mac?" Eva was stunned.

"Well, What can I say, Evangeline? I'm a capitalist, and they pay," Mac said pointing to the Russians.

"After all those years we spent spying on the Reds?" Indiana turned to look at him and continued, "I thought we were friends, Mac."

Mac began to walk toward the Russians with his gun still pointed at Indiana. "I've had a run of bad luck with the cards lately, mate. Awful. Bloody awful. I can't go home empty-handed again."

"No defiant last words, Doctor Jones," Spalko asked from her position on top of the truck.

Indiana looked at her for a moment and then said, "I like Ike."

Spalko said nothing. The Colonel stepped forward. "Put down gun."

"You got it, pal," Indiana said allowing the gun to fall to the floor. The gun misfired and the bullet hit a soldier in the foot. The soldier jumped in surprise and pain, gripping his gun so tightly it went off. The resulting confusion allowed Indiana and Eva to escape into the mass sea of towered boxes.

With adrenaline coursing through her body, Eva forgot about her twisted ankle. She climbed a set of boxes with Indiana and ran after Spalko, who had taken the box of magnetic mummified remains. Indiana used his whip as a swinging rope and tried to swing onto Spalko's car. Eva saw that he was going to miss and simply continued to run. He missed and swung backwards, crashing through the window of the truck behind him.

"Damn I thought that was closer." Indiana knocked the driver out of his seat before turning to the passenger to find Eva sitting calmly next to him.

"You might want to take the wheel."

Indiana nodded and did so, ramming Spalko's car with the front of the truck. Indiana and Eva took the closeness of the two vehicles and jumped the distance onto the bed of the car. Indiana scrambled up to the passenger seat and pushed Spalko out, allowing Eva to take the wheel. They blasted through a pile of boxes and quickly turned before they could hit another stack.

A truck turned a corner and sped towards them. As the two trucks got closer they could here Mac yelling, "You don't know 'em! You don't know 'em!"

Indiana and Eva jumped for a light fixture seconds before their truck hit Macs'. They climbed onto the rafters and started running across the beams as soldiers shot at them from below. Indiana spotted a chain and pulley and jumped for it, Eva not far behind. When they reached the ground, Eva immediately ran while Indiana paused for a moment.

Indiana saw the Colonel and turned to follow Eva. The Colonel pushed both Indiana and Eva through a set of doors and onto a circular piece of glass in the floor. The glass cracked beneath their combined weight and sent the scuffling trio downward.

They landed on a suspended scaffolding platform. Eva was the first to roll off, grabbing onto a chain so she didn't fall to the ground. Indiana kicked the Colonel off next before following Eva. Eva dropped to the ground while Indiana swung and knocked the Colonel through a glass pane, into a control area. As the Colonel exited the control room, a thirty second countdown started. The Colonel used a chain as a heavy whip and threw it at Indiana, who had landed on an engine platform.

Indiana rolled off the side as the engine came to life beside Eva. She hurried to the control room to see if there was an emergency off switch. Indiana attempted to follow her but was tripped by the Colonel. The Colonel threw aside his chain whip in favor of a chain that hung from the ceiling and wrapped it around Indiana's neck. He hoisted him up and began to beat him. Eva scrambled over the control safety window and climbed up onto the engine platform to assist Indiana.

As Eva kidney punched the Colonel, Indiana kicked him in the neck, sending both men down. Eva knelt next to Indiana and helped him remove the chain from around his neck before the three of them were pushed back against the grate separating the platform from the engine.

The engine pushed them along for a good five miles before it stopped at the end of its runway in a water landing. The Colonel had passed out and his head now rested on Indiana's shoulder. Indiana pushed him off the platform and stumbled off the other side. Eva had passed out as well, and was sprawled out on the deck of the platform. Indiana picked his hat from its stuck place on the grate and returned it to his head before picking Eva up as best as he could and dragging her over a small hill where they could hide from the oncoming cars.

"Henry?" Eva's voice was light and airy as she regained consciousness.

"Shhh, Reds are just over the embankment." He pushed her down further. "We're gonna have to crawl for now, can you do it?"

She only nodded and he led the way. A few minutes after sunrise they stood over a cliff edge and spotted a small town not far away. "Can you make it on your ankle?"

"It's close to fine now; I'll be able to get there, but I'll need to ice it."

Indiana nodded and the duo made their way down the cliff. The town was quiet and seemed empty. A military car made its way through the streets, causing the pair to hop over a fence and dash into a nearby house. After knocking Indiana opened the door. "Hello? Hello?" The house was almost as silent as the rest of the town, with a television playing a reasonable level. Indiana attempted to turn on a faucet next to the door but no water came out. "Hello?" He made his way further into the house, with Eva behind him. They walked into the living room where the family was watching Howdy Doty.

Indiana walked over to the couch. "Hey. We knocked. You guys got a…" He stopped when he placed his hands on the parents' shoulders and found they were made of plastic. "Wait a minute."

The pair made their way out to the front door and onto the main street where they got a good look at the entire town. All of the people were made of plastic. There were few water pumps going but other than that there was no movement. Indiana walked over to a plastic girl and patted her head fondly accidently knocking the wagon handle from her hand. He reached down to pick it up but stumbled back into the "paper boy" behind him, knocking him over as well.

Eva was allowed a second to laugh at her employer before an alarm sounded through the valley. "That can't be good."

"All personnel, it is now one minute to zero time. Put on goggles or turn away. Do not remove goggles or face burst until 10 seconds after first light."

"That can't be good at all."

The army car sped past them and Indiana ran after them. "Sure! Great! Don't wait for us!"

"Henry! The refrigerators are lead lined!" Eva ran into a house, leaving him outside.

"Minus 15 seconds."

Indiana hurried inside and cleared out a fridge and closed the door holding it shut. He waited in claustrophobic silence a few minutes before he landed some distance away. He regained his senses and pushed open the door before spilling out.

"Henry?" Eva voice rang out in the distance.

"Evangeline!" Indiana ran towards her voice as she coughed and crawled out of the fridge she had climbed into. "There you are! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she said as he helped her up. They looked up at the mushroom cloud that hung in the sky. "We'll be found before long, but I don't recommend staying here."

Indiana nodded and the pair made their way out of the remains of the valley.

XXXXX

A/n: Woohoo! I'm done with chapter one! Again… -_-;; My muse has left me as to what to do about Mary. I don't know if I want her in like I did the last one or not. Review and let me know?


	2. Chapter 2

A/n: I finally found it! My long lost flash drive! I found it! I don't have to re-write all of the story! It's gonna be a little strained though because my two beginnings are slightly different! But I'm sure it'll work.

Extended Leave

Eva and Indiana were taken to separate showers to be thoroughly scrubbed and Eva's leg looked at. When they were finished they were given plain white shirts and jeans and escorted to the same briefing room and asked about their association With George McHale.

"We had no reason to believe that Mac was a spy," Eva said.

"He was MI6 when I was in OSS," Indiana continued. "We did 20, 30 missions together in Europe and the Pacific, with Eva as our field medic and second in command."

"Don't wave your war records in our face, Colonel Jones. We all served," the shorter man said.

"No kidding?" Eva questioned with sarcastic interest. "What side were you on?"

The taller man with glasses spoke next. "I don't think you recognize the gravity of your situations. You both aided and abetted KGB agents who broke into a top-secret military instillation in the middle of the United States of America, my country."

"What was in the steel box they took?" Indiana asked.

"You tell us. You've seen it before," the short man said.

Indiana looked at him and grunted in realization. "You mean that Air Force fiasco in '47." Eva sat up interested. "I was tossed into a bus with blacked-out windows and 20 people I wasn't allowed to speak to. Hauled out in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere on some urgent recovery project and shown what? Pieces of wreckage and an intensely magnetic shroud covering mutilated remains? None of us was ever given the full picture. And we were threatened with treason if we ever talked about it. So, you tell me, what was in the box?"

The men never got the chance to answer as the door to the briefing room was opened and General Robert Ross stepped inside. "Indy, Eva, thank God. Don't you two know it's dangerous to climb into refrigerators? Those things can be deathtraps."

Indiana stood from his chair and held out his hand. "Good to see you, too, Bob."

"Relax, boys. I can vouch for the good Doctors."

"What the hell is going on?" Eva asked with curiosity. "KGB on American soil? Who was that woman?"

"Describe her," the shorter man said.

Indiana proceeded to, "Tall, thin, mid 30's, carried a sword of some kind, a rapier, I think." A few minutes later a file was thrown open onto the table and Indiana picked it up. "Yeah, that's her."

"You sure she's here?" The shorter man asked as Indiana showed Eva the picture.

"Here and gone. Who is she?" Eva asked.

"Irina Spalko, she was Stalin's fair-haired girl," Robert said to them. "His favorite scientist, if you can call psychic research science."

"General Ross…" One of the men warned.

"She's leading teams from the Kremlin all over the world," Robert continued. "Scooping up artifacts she thinks might have paranormal military applications."

"General Ross!" The man with glasses had gone up to Indiana's side and took the file from his hands.

"Back off, Paul." Robert sat on the other side of Indiana at the head of the table. "Not everyone in the Army's a Commie and certainly not these two.

Indiana sat back down and took Eva's hand. "What exactly are we being accused of?"

"Besides surviving a nuclear blast?" Eva added.

"Nothing yet. But frankly your association with George McHale make all your activities suspicious, including those during the war." The man with glasses looked slightly smug as he spoke.

"Are you nuts?" Robert came to their defense. "Do you have any idea how many medals these two sons of bitches won?"

"A great many, I'm sure," glasses said sarcastically then looked at Eva and Indiana. "But do they deserve them?"

Indiana looked up at glasses like he was going to do him bodily harm in that room as the shorter man spoke. "Colonel Doctor Jones, Lieutenant Colonel Doctor Williams, let's just say for now that you both are of interest to the Bureau."

"Of great interest," glasses said looking at them.

XXXXX

A few days later Indiana was teaching his class as Eva sat in the front row near the door catching him up on some of his grading; her bifocals were perched at the tip of her nose as she did so.

"Grooved Ware in the beginning of modern drainage practices, which we also see in Skara Brae in the west coast of Scotland." Indiana was speaking when Charlie, the Dean of the college, opened the door. "Skara Brae dates from 3100 B.C. and was continuously occupied for 600 years until it was apparently abandoned in 2500 B.C. There's no clear evidence as to why its occupants decided to abandon a perfectly healthy environment. Yes?" Eva looked up and noticed Charlie for the first time.

"May I have a moment, Professor, Miss Williams?"

"Yes," Indiana said before addressing the class. "Open up Michaelson. Review Chapter 4. When I come back we'll discuss the difference between migration and exodus."

Eva and Indiana followed Charlie out into the hall way and shut the door behind them and the students began to talk. After a few moments Indiana spoke loudly. "What!" The students went quiet and tried to listen in.

"You have no idea the pressure coming from the Board of Regents," Charlie explained. "The FBI showed up this morning, ransacked your office, searched all your files!"

"You're the dean of the college," Eva said accusingly. "Why didn't you stop them?"

"They have no right," Indiana added.

"They had every right! They weren't vandals. They were federal agents with search warrants!" Charlie began yelling and Indiana noticed the students were crowding the door. "The university isn't gonna get itself embroiled in that kind of controversy, not in this charged climate."

Indiana pulled Charlie away from the door to the classroom and Eva followed them. "So you're firing us?" He spoke tersely.

"A leave of absence is all. An indefinite leave of absence."

"You are firing us!" Eva was angered beyond belief.

"During which they've agreed to continued to pay your full salaries for a period…"

"We don't want their money!" Indiana cut him off.

"Please don't be foolish," Charlie said sitting down. "You don't know what I had to go through to get that for you."

"You went through?" Eva was sarcastic.

"What exactly did you have to go through, Charlie?" Indiana asked him rhetorically.

"Henry…" Charlie looked at him seriously. "I resigned."

Eva hung her mouth open in shock.

XXXXX

Since their Army days, Eva had had problems with her dreams. She needed someone to be near her while she slept lest she harm herself. They had lived in the same house after they were discharged from the Army; their longtime friendship had been slowly turning into something more that Indiana now quickly feared he would lose. In the beginning she continued to address him as a superior officer until she slowly began to call him by his given name.

A few years later their home life was terribly domesticated, including their use of affectionate names. Most of their students looked to them and addressed them as if they were a married couple. At first they corrected the students, but after a while they began to ignore the whispers that surrounded them.

Indiana folded a shirt and gently placed it in his small traveling case as Charlie looked around. Eva was in her own room packing her things.

"Where will the two of you go?" Charlie asked as he sipped on a glass of wine.

"Train to New York, overnight to London, for starts," Indiana said walking over to his dresser and pulling a few things from it with both hands before walking back. "I might end up teaching in Leipsig. Heinrich owes me a favor." He paused and looked up to his friend. "I'm still hoping that she'll actually tell me be coming."

"Of course I am," Eva walked out of her room with two small bags of her own. "Lord knows, wherever you go, you'll find something fun and exciting that requires someone to save your life. Might as well be me, I'm the most qualified for the job."

Indiana smiled grimly at her and continued to Charlie, "We'll wire you when we get settled. You can send on the rest of our things."

"I suppose there's nothing to keep the both of you here. I barely recognize this country anymore. The government's got us seeing Communists in our soup." Charlie sighed. "When the hysteria reached academia, I guess it's time to call it a career."

Indiana picked his wine glass and walked into his study and Eva asked as they followed, "How did Deirdre take the news?"

"How does any wife take such things? The look on her face was a combination of pride and panic."

"I never should have doubted you, my friend," Indiana said from his desk.

"No, you have a reason to question your friends these days," Charlie walked closer as Indiana sat down and Eva stood behind him with her hand on his shoulder comfortingly.

"Brutal couple of years, huh?" Indiana asked looking at his passport. "First Dad, then Marcus." He gestured to the two pictures on his desk.

"We seem to have reached the age where life stops giving us things and starts taking them away," Eva said rubbing his shoulder.

Indiana half smiled and sighed, nodding in agreement.

Charlie looked at his empty glass and walked over to the wine bottle, "Just another half glass."

Indiana said nothing but stared at his fathers' picture before pulling Eva by her arm to make her bend over his shoulder.

She stood there for a minute and then kissed him on the temple affectionately. "Come on, we'll be late for the train."


	3. Chapter 3

Meeting Mutt

Eva sat beside Indiana in the aisle seat as the stain began to take off slowly. The sound of a motorbike did not immediately grab her attention but a familiar voice did. "Hey! Hey, Old man." She looked out the window, attempting to see the face, as the voice spoke again. "Professor, hello! Hey! Are you Doctor Jones?"

Indiana pointed to the end of the platform. "You're running out of platform, kid."

"Are you a friend of Doctor Oxley's?"

"Harold Oxley, the Archeologist?"

"Yeah."

"What about him?"

"They're going to kill him."

Eva put a hand on Indiana's shoulder and stood up to look out the window. "Mutt?"

Indiana and Eva jumped off the train with their things and Eva hugged the kid tightly. "Mutt, what are you doing here? Where's your mother? Who's going to kill Harold?"

"One question at a time, Auntie Eva," The kid said hugging her back. "God I missed you."

She pulled away. "Now explain."

"Not here."

XXXXX

The trio sat in a diner as Indiana looked at a picture of Mutt and Harold. "I haven't talked to Harold Oxley in 20 years," he said. "He's a brilliant guy. He could put you to sleep just by talking."

Mutt chuckled and said, "Yeah. Yeah. When I was a kid, that's how I did get to sleep. Oxley's voice was better than a glass of warm milk, you know?"

"I remember carrying you up to bed after you had your nightly talk with Oxley," Eva said reminiscing. "You were so cute back then."

Mutt blushed and held his hand out for Indiana. "The name's Mutt, Mutt Williams."

"Your nephew I take it?" Indiana shook Mutt's hand and spoke to Eva.

"How could you tell," she asked sarcastically.

"So, Mutt? What kind of name is that?"

"It's the one I picked. You got a problem with it?" Mutt reached for his photo and put it into his hat.

"Take it easy," Eva warned him.

"What was your relationship to Oxley?" Indiana asked as Mutt dipped his comb into some guy's drink and combed back his hair.

"My dad died in the war. Auntie was still in it for the long run. Ox kind of helped my mom raise me until auntie got back."

"You were saying that somebody's going to kill him?" Eva was a tad bit urgent.

Mutt looked around and lent into the table. "Six months ago, mom gets a letter from the Ox. He's down in Peru. Found some type of skull, a crystal skull. Like the one that guy Mitchell-Hodgkiss? Hedghiss?" he took a beer from a passing waitress' tray. "The one he found."

As Mutt turned around Indiana took the beer and put it back on the tray while saying, "The Ox and I were obsessed with the Mitchell-Hedges skull in college. How do you know about it?"

"Are you kidding? It's all he ever talked about. He'd talk about that thing till the cows come home. What's it? It's like an idol?"

"Deity carving," Eva corrected. "Mesoamerican. There are a number of crystal skulls in the world. We saw one in the British Museum."

"Interesting craftsmanship, but that's about it," Indiana commented with a small smile.

"All right, well, laugh if you want. Oxley said he found it this time. He said that he was off to a place called Akator with it."

"Akator?" Indiana's tone was skeptical. "He said that? You're sure?"

"Yeah. That's what he said. He said Akator. What is it?"

"It's a mythical lost city in the Amazon. Conquistadors called it El Dorado. Supposedly, the Ugha tribe were chosen by the gods, 7,000 years ago to build a giant city out of solid gold. It had aqueducts and paved roads and technology that wouldn't be seen again for 5,000 years. Francosco de Orellana disappeared into the Amazon looking for it in 1546. I almost died of typhus looking for it myself. I don't think it exists."

Mutt shook his head. "Why would Ox want to take the skull there?"

Indiana sat more forward in his seat. "The legend says that a crystal skull was stolen from Akator in the 15th or 16th century, and that whoever returns the skull to the city temple will be given control over its power."

"Power. Right. So there's some kind of power. What's the power?"

Indiana chuckled and shook his head. "I don't know, kid. It's just a story."

"No." Mutt raised his finger slightly like he remembered something. "From his letter, my mom thought the Ox was off his rocker. You know, smog in the noggin, so she goes down there to find him, only he'd already been kidnaped. Now they've got her, too."

"Why would your mother go and do something stupid like that without telling me about it?" Eva sounded slightly offended and worried.

"She knew that if anything were to happen you were the best person to come after her. Now, Ox said that he hid that skull someplace, and if mom doesn't come up with it they're gonna kill them both." Mutt turned to Indiana. "Now, she said you'd help me."

Indiana shook his head in disbelief. "Me? What's your mom's name again?"

"Mary. Mary Williams. You remember her?"

"There were a lot of Mary's, kid."

Mutt stood up in a huff and pounded the table. "Shut up! That's my mother you're talking about! All right? That's my mother."

Eva pulled him down by his jacket sleave. "You don't have to get sore all the time just to prove how tough you are."

Mutt sat and spoke to Indiana again. "She said that if anybody could find the skull, it's you and auntie. Like you're some type off… Like a grave robber or something."

"I am your aunt and you call me a 'grave robber'?"

"I'm a tenured professor of archeology. Your aunt is my assistant."

"Oh, you're a teacher. Well, that's gonna be a big help."

"Mind your tone young man," Eva barked in an authoritive tone.

Mutt resettled in his chair and sulked. "Yes, mam. Anyway, she called me two weeks ago from South America. Said she'd escaped, but they were after her. She said she'd just gotten a letter from the Ox and mailed it to me so I could give it to the two of you." Mutt pulled a letter from his pocket and handed it to Indiana. "Then the line went dead. I opened it. I mean, the thing's pointless, though. It's just gibberish. It's not even English lettering. See?"

Indiana looked at the letter and then looked over Mutts' shoulder and said, "See those two bricks over there, at the counter?" Mutt turned to look and the men stood up. "I don't think they're here for the milkshakes."

"Who are they?" Mutt was quiet.

"Don't know. Maybe FBI," Eva answered him as Indiana put the letter away.

"Come quietly, Doctors," one of the men said in a thick Russian accent.

"Make that KGB," Indiana corrected.

"And bring letter with you."

"Letter? What letter?" Eva sounded honestly clueless.

"Letter Mr. Williams just give you."

"Me? Do I look like a mail man?" Mutt's tone was sarcastic.

"We don't ask again." The other man said. "Come now or we'll…"

Mutt cut him off by pulling out his knife and slamming it on the table. "Or what?"

"Nice try, kid," Indiana commended. "But I think you just brought a knife to a gun fight," he added as the KGB agents showed their guns.

"Outside now." One of the men said.

The trio slowly stood up and gathered their things, making their way out in front of the agents.

"Hit this guy," Indiana murmured to Mutt.

"Who?"

"Joe College. Hit him hard."

Mutt handed his hat to the guy. "Here hold this?"

"What?" Mutt punched him in the face before he could do anything.

A girl next to him stood up and cried, "That's my boyfriend," before punching Mutt.

Mutt got punched by the guy and was knocked back into a gang of greasers with sunglasses. The entire diner took a side and someone yelled, "Get that greaser!" A fight immediately followed. In the confusion Mutt took Eva's hand and led them outside.

"Your mom didn't escape," Eva told Mutt as he got on his bike with her right behind him.

"They let her go," Indiana followed her train of thought. "So she could mail a letter and you could bring it to me and I could translate it."

The KGB agents exited the dinner and spotted them. "Get on, gramps!" Mutt yelled putting the secondary foot rests down.

Indiana squished Eva between them as Mutt took off. The agents had come prepared and had a car waiting and took off after them. As they drove past a bus the agents caught up and pulled Indiana inside the car. The car swerved and Mutt took his chance to get on the other side where Indiana got out and pulled himself back on.

Mutt veered off onto the school campus grounds and lost the agents by going through a narrow hallway. A second car came out of hiding and followed them. They ran through the grounds into a protest against the Russians.

"This is crazy!" Indiana yelled. "Somebody's going to get hurt!"

Mutt knocked over a post for the rally sign so the sign hung over the agents' windshield. The car accelerated and crashed into the statue of Marcus and his head fell off, landing in the drivers lap.

Mutt chuckled and looked back to see his aunt in saddened shock and Indiana not looking to happy himself. At the sound of another car they took off again.

"Left! Take a left! Left," Eva yelled as they passed the library.

Mutt did so and they went through the center aisle. "Split, split, split, split, split!"

"You're going to fast," Indiana said to him.

"That's a matter of opinion!" Mutt yelled back to him.

They almost ran into a guy holding a big stack of books when they swerved to miss him and slid under the tables, pushing the chairs out of the way. When they slowed to a stop a kid was holding a book when he was pushed back by the motorbikes' front tire. "Excuse me, Doctor Jones, Doctor Williams?"

"Yes," they answered getting up.

"I just had a question on Hargrove's normative culture model," the kid said reading from his book.

Indiana helped Mutt pick up the bike as Eva spoke to the kid, "Forget Hargrove. Read Vere Gordon Childe on diffusionism." She got on the bike behind Mutt and continued. "He spent most of his life in the field."

Mutt started the bike and Indiana added in, "If you want to be a good archeologist," Mutt began to speed away, "you got to get out of the library!"


	4. Chapter 4

Translations

Indiana sat on the couch as Eva collected a book from the shelf and set it on the coffee table. "Thank you." Indiana continued and flipped through the book until he stopped.

"Who is that?" Mutt asked curiously.

"Francisco de Orellana, the conquistador," Eva said taking the letter and putting her reading glasses on.

"Remember," Indiana explained, "that guy who got lost looking for the skull." He turned a page and took the letter back from Eva. "And just as I thought. Koihoma."

"What's that," Mutt asked from the fireplace.

"It's an extinct Latin American language. Pre-Columbian syllabic base," Eva said as Indiana began to translate. "See. Diagonal stresses on the ideograms. Definitely Koihoma."

"He speak it?"

"Nobody speaks it. It hasn't been heard aloud in 3,000 years."

"I might be able to read a bit though if I walk it through Mayan first," Indiana said looking at the papers.

"You know, for an old man you ain't bad in a fight,' Mutt tried to complement him.

"Thanks a lot," Indiana sounded sarcastic.

"What are you, like, 80?"

"Now you're pushing it young man," Eva warned.

Indiana threw down the letter and picked it back up again saying excitedly, "It's a riddle." This drew Mutt's attention. "Leave it to Ox to write a riddle in a dead language. "Follow the lines in the earth only gods can read which lead to Orellana's cradle guarded by the living dead.""

"He's talking about the Nazca Lines," Eva said standing and going over to the bookcase.

"What are those?" Mutt was full of questions.

"Hold on there." She pulled a book from the shelf. " ancient drawings carved into the desert floor in Peru." She opened the book and set it on the back of a chair. "From the ground, they don't look like anything. But from the sky, only the gods can read them, because only the gods live up there."

Indiana turned the page to read on. "Oxley's telling up the skull is in Nazca, Peru."


	5. Chapter 5

Nazca, Peru

After their first layover flight to Havana landed and they boarded their second layover in Mexico City the trio found themselves in a cramped plane. A few crates made up the one bed to share between the three of them. Mutt busied himself with making sure his bike was alright. Eva looked like she was about to pass out so Indiana pulled her to lie on top of him.

"Try to sleep. You look like hell."

"At least you're comfy enough for me to do so," she murmured quietly before falling asleep.

Mutt looked over to the two of them. "So, you're sweet on my aunt?"

"Have been for a long time, kid. Almost threw her away before you were even thought of."

"She used to tell me stories about you. When I was a kid I was afraid of storms. Auntie would come in, pick me up take me over to the rocking chair and tell me a story about you to get me back to sleep. Those were the only times that Ox's voice didn't help."

"What stories did she tell you?"

"The one where you were possessed and almost killed her was my favorite. I liked the Shorty kid."

"Short Round was a tough kid."

"She ever tell you she adopted him?"

"What?" Indiana was surprised. Shorty had left them when they had gotten to Delhi. 'Eva must have tracked him down.' He thought as he looked down at her. "No, she never did."

The plane landed in Cusco after they flew over the lines. When they got into town Mutt stayed with his bike tossing his knife around as Eva and Indiana talked to the locals.

Indiana and Eva shook hands with the men they were talking to and made their way back over to Mutt. Indiana spoke first. "Finally. They saw him. Ox wandered into town a couple of months ago, raving like a madman."

"Police locked him up in the sanitarium. It's this way," Eva pointed in the direction they needed to go.

"I took Spanish and I didn't understand a word of that." Mutt stated to the two adults. "What was it?"

"Quechua, local Incan dialect," Indiana answered automatically.

"Where'd you learn that one?"

"Long story."

Mutt shrugged and chuckled. "I got time."

"We rode with Pancho Villa," Eva told him. "Couple of his guys spoke it."

"Bullshit!" Mutt was impressed.

"You asked," she shrugged.

"Pancho Villa?" Mutt asked as if he hadn't heard correctly the first time.

"Technically, we were kidnapped," Indiana put in.

"By Pancho Villa?"

"It was the fight against Victoriano Huerta."

"How old were you guys?"

"About your age," Eva said as they continued walking.

"Your parents must've had a cow, huh?"

"It worked out," Indiana played it off. "Things were a little tense at home."

"Yeah, me and mom aren't on the best of terms, either."

"Treat her right, Mutt," Eva said beside him.

"You only get one and sometimes not for that long." Indiana's voice was solemn and Eva leaned up to kiss his cheek.

"It's not my fault. It's hers," Mutt defended himself. "She just got P.O.'ed because I quit school. She thinks I'm some kind of goof or something."

"You quit school?" Indiana was surprised.

"Oh, yeah," Eva put in. "Tons of them. Fancy prep schools that teach you how to debate and chess and fencing."

"I'm great with a blade. I just think it's a waste of time," Mutt said looking at his Aunt appreciatively.

"You never finished," Indiana said disbelievingly.

"No. Just a bunch of useless skills. Wrong books." Mutt said before coughing and continuing. "'Cause I love reading. Me, Ox, and Auntie used to read all the time. But now I can pick them myself. You get me?"

"What do you do for money?"

"Fix motorcycles."

"And the occasional car," Eva put in.

"Gonna do that for the rest of your life?" Indiana sounded unimpressed.

"Maybe I will, Teach. You got a problem with that?" Mutt was being defensive.

"No. Not if that's something you love doing. Don't any anybody tell you different." Indiana had caved in.

"Boys, we're there," Eva said pulling both into the sanitarium. Indiana tipped his hat to two passing nuns as they entered.

They spoke to the Mother Superior and followed her down to the cells as she spoke. Indiana translated for Mutt. "She says Ox isn't here. She doesn't know where he is. Some men came and took him away, men with guns. She says he was obsessed, deranged. Drew pictures all over the walls in his cell."

Eva pulled Oxley's letter from Indiana's satchel. "This riddle in Oxley's letter doesn't make any sense. "Follow the lines that only the gods can read that lead to Orellana's cradle." Cradle, cradle, birth. Orellana wasn't born in Peru. He was born in Spain. He was a conquistador. He came here for the gold."

"What happened to him," Mutt asked cutting off her tirade.

"He disappeared along with six others. Their bodies were never found."

Mother Superior opened the door to Oxley's cell and the three of them entered. They looked around at the walls and Mutt let out a deep breath and said, "He must have lost his mind."

Eva pulled Mutt's head down to her shoulder in a comforting manner as his eyes glistened with unshed tears. "We don't know that for sure just yet. It's obvious that his thoughts were a little jumbled but that doesn't mean he lost himself."

"Ox, man, what happened? What happened?" Mutt's voice was muffled by his aunts' shoulder, but you could still hear the break in his voice as he tried to contain himself.

Indiana patted Mutt's shoulder and went over to one of the walls and pointed to a picture of an elongated skull. "This is not the Mitchell-Hedges skull." Mutt stood up straight and paid attention.

"Look at the elongated cranium," Eva said tracing over it with her hand.

"And the same word in different languages, over and over again."

"Return," Mutt saw. "Return where?"

"Or return what?" Indiana looked at Mutt.

"You mean the skull?"

"Seems to have been on his mind," Eva pointed out.

"Where was he supposed to return it to?"

Indiana spotted a broom outside of the cell and used it to brush away some of the dirt that had accumulated on the floor, showing carvings in it as well. Indiana handed the brush off to Mutt as Eva climbed up the ladder to see from above. "Sweep."

"Yeah," Mutt sniffled and did so.

Eva sat on the cot and looked at the letter. "Ox didn't mean Orellana's birthplace," she said finally. "Cradle has another meaning in Mayan. Literally, it means "resting place," as in final resting place. Ox meant Orellana's grave."

"This drawing scratched into the floor is the cemetery where he's buried," Indiana said gesturing to the floor.

"You guys said Orellana vanished and nobody ever found his grave," Mutt said to them confused.

"Well," Eva chuckled to him, "It looks like Harold Oxley did."

XXXXX

Mutt hid his bike in the shadows and covered it with the local fauna. He stood and followed Eva and Indiana holding a bag over his shoulder and a flashlight which he shined on a warning sign. "Grave robbers will be shot."

"Good thing we're not grave robbers," Indiana said seriously as he threw Mutt a shovel.

The three made their way into the church ruins when Mutt spoke again. "What are we looking for?"

"Don't know yet," Eva replied. "Maybe an antechamber off one of these barrows."

The ventured further in and Mutt jumped. "I think I just saw something!"

"Ah, you're jumping at shadows," Indiana said.

"It was probably your imagination," Eva told him unworriedly and followed Indiana.

Mutt took to an old ladder. "This way down." He attempted to climb down but the rungs fell out from under him.

"This way up," Indiana said after following Eva down the stairs, extending his hand.

"Yeah," was all Mutt said as he was pulled up.

A figure jumped at them from above. They landed, tripped Eva, and kicked Indiana in the chest causing him to fall over, before beginning to fight with Mutt. They tripped Mutt and disappeared before he got up.

Another figure jumped on Mutts back. Indiana got up and hit the figure in the face with a shovel, breaking their mask. The man behind it screamed and pushed Indiana aside and disappeared through the tunnels. Mutt attempted to follow him with a shovel but he was lost to the darkness.

Another figure jumped out of a tunnel across from the one Mutt was looking into and blew a dart at him. The dart landed on the handle of the shovel and Indiana yelled out, "those darts are poison!" The figure jumped back into the darkness and Indiana went to follow. "Stay there," He told Mutt before he disappeared.

Mutt looked around for his aunt and saw that she was nowhere to be found. A few seconds later Mutt saw the unmasked man as he aimed for Mutt with a blow gun. The gun was put to his lips when Eva stood in front of him and quickly blew the dart back into his open mouth, killing him.

The other masked figure jumped from the tunnel that Mutt stood by and attacked him. The sound of a gun cock clicking sounded behind Mutt and his attacker fled. Mutt turned around and saw Indiana lowering his gun from the place where his attacker was. "You two are school teachers," he stuttered.

"Part-time," Indiana answered.

The trio made their way further into the ruins coming across what looked like a dead end.

"Dead end," Mutt said.

"Maybe," Eva corrected as she and Indiana looked around.

She heard something shaking and looked to Mutt to see he had brought out his comb to brush hair down. Indiana beat her to the reprimand. "What are you doing? Put that thing away. Give us some light over here."

Mutt did as he was told and turned as Eva waved him over to a wall. "Bring it over here."

As Mutt got closer, something bumped into his face and he jumped. "It's just a thing."

Indiana heard the sound of wind coming from a moving cobweb cluster. Mutt brought the light closer to reveal a skull hidden behind the webs. Indiana cleared out the webs and took out the skull to find a hole in the wall that led to two ropes. He reached for one and pulled it. Nothing happened. He pulled the other and the wall behind Mutt split open, showing them a hidden passage way. Mutt fell into the mummy next to it.

Indiana went in first followed by Eva. Mutt yelled and danced around. "Dance on you own dime, will you," Indiana asked lightheartedly.

"One of those scorpions just stung me! Am I gonna die," Mutt asked quickly panicked.

"How big?" Eva was slightly concerned.

"Huge!"

"Good," she and Indiana said together.

"Good?"

"When it comes to scorpions, the bigger the better. A small one bites you, don't keep it to yourself." Indiana said and continued on.

They walked down a set of steep stone steps that was lined with mummies. "Their skulls," Mutt observed. "Look at their skulls, Auntie."

"Like the drawings in Oxley's cell." She was calm as they kept moving. "It means we're getting closer."

"That's crazy. Why is it like that?"

"Nazca Indians used to bind their infants' heads with rope to elongate the skull like that."

"Why?"

"Honor the gods," She explained to him as Indiana cleared out a web cluster.

"No, no. God's head is not like that, man."

"Depends on who your god is," Indiana said climbing up a ramp that led to nowhere.

"You're going nowhere fast," Mutt commented to him as Eva followed Indiana up the ramp. Indiana reached the end and waited for Eva. "Auntie, this really is a dead end. Look."

The ramp began to tilt and sealed off Mutt from the older duo. Indiana looked through the webs beyond as Eva crawled off the ramp. Once she was off Indiana crawled back to the other side of the ramp and let it fall. "Come on, genius." He beckoned to Mutt with his finger. "Bring the backpack."

On the other side of the ramp they found what looked like a burial chamber that had six or seven thickly wrapped lumps scattered around the room. "This is incredible," Eva breathed.

"Unreal," Mutt said agreeing with her. Attempting to move quickly to the rest of the room, he was stopped by Indiana's arm.

"Don't touch anything." Indiana shined his light on the floor. "Footprints. Somebody's been here. Recently." He squatted down to the side of the prints. "Two sets of prints."

"Same size, could have been the same person twice," Mutt suggested squatting next to him.

Indiana smirked at him. "Not bad, kid." He stood up, walked onto the main floor and counted the lumps of cloth, each one of them big enough to preserve a human. "Seven. Orellana and his men might've made it out of the jungle after all. He walked over to one of the lumps that was propped against a wall and gave his flashlight to Eva. "Give me some light," he said to Mutt who came closer.

Indiana tried to rip the wrappings of the lump and then turned to Mutt. "You don't have a knife, do you?"

Mutt pulled out and un-sprung his pocket knife and handed it to Indiana. He cut through and cleared away the wrappings to reveal a man's head beneath it all. Mutt was astounded. "Looks like he just died yesterday."

"It's the wrappings. They preserved him," Eva said completely fascinated by it. They continued to watch as the mummy decomposed in front of them.

"What just happened?" Mutt stuttered again.

"He's been wrapped up for 500 years. Air doesn't agree with him," Indiana said quickly and picked up the dead man's knife. He handed Mutt his and Eva cleared her throat when he tried to pocket the ancient knife. "I don't want to keep borrowing his all the time," he complained to her. "I was going to put it back." And he did do as if to prove his point.

Mutt turned to look behind them and saw another lump. "Is this one open already?"

Eva moved over to the lump and began to push away the wrappings. She came across a gold mask. "It's him," she said to Indiana. "It's Orellana himself."

Indiana moved the mask and spoke. "They called him The Gilded Man. His lust for gold was legendary. It's odd. Somebody's been here and gone. But they left all this gold and all the artifacts."

"What were they looking for?" Eva picked up a few pieces of gold and they flew out of her hand, onto the armor of Orellana, and then disappeared under it.

Indiana picked up the body and leaned it forward. He looked back at Mutt and then handed him the body. "Hold this." Indiana moved the wrappings that would have surrounded the head and found a skull looking back at him. He picked it up and Eva stood up to examine it with him. "Unbelievable." Indiana turned to Mutt after he put the body down. The skull seemed to attract the lantern Mutt was holding.

"No tool marks." Eva noted in awe.

"A single piece of seamless quartz." Indiana took off a piece of gold that was attached to the skull.

"Cut across the grain."

"It's not possible, even with today's technology, it would shatter." Mutt's pocket knife zipped out of his hand and stuck to the skull. Mutt took it off with some difficulty. "Crystal's not magnetic."

"Neither is gold," Mutt said

Eva caressed the skull gently. "What is this thing?"

Mutt took a closer look. "What if the Nazca Indians thought this was their god." Indiana smiled at him. "You think this is the one from…"

Indiana cut him off. "From Akator."

Eva thought for a moment. "Maybe the Spaniards found this skull along with all this other loot. They were headed for their ships along the shore. Maybe the Indians caught up with them, or they got to squabbling amongst themselves over their prize, kill each other off. The Indians wrap them up and bury them. A couple hundred years later, Oxley shows up here, finds the skull. Takes it away, maybe to Akator."

"But then he returns it here," Indiana said questioningly.

"Return," Mutt said. "Return, like he wrote on the walls of his cell."

"He put it back where he found it. Why?"

The three of them stared at each other for a few minutes. They decided to make their way back outside. It would be late morning now and they had to get going. Indiana lead Eva up the stairs to the main level of the church ruins when they ran into Russians and Mac.

"Hello, Jonesey, little Eva," Mac said to them. Mutt made a move towards Mac and he raised his gun to Mutt.

"Hello Mac," Indiana said keeping Eva behind him.


	6. Chapter 6

A/n: ok I said the beginnings were different and this chapter really doesn't make much sense with this beginning but I'm putting it up any way.

Hello Marion

The flight up to Iquitos was quick but the boat ride to Ilha Aramaca was longer. The captive trio was under constant guard around the Russians. Eva most especially because she was the only woman.

They entered the Russian campsite and Eva scoped out the layout for a possible escape. She paid little attention to what was being said until Spalko motioned to a nearby tent and spoke to the guards in front of it. They entered and exited with a person in their hands.

"Get your hands off me, you rotten Russki son of a bitch!" Marion struggled against her captors. When the soldiers let her go, Marion spotted Indiana and put her hands on her hips. "Indiana Jones." Indiana looked dumbstruck and then smiled, walking towards her. "About time you showed up," she finished walking past him and over to Mutt.

"Mom!" Mutt was excited to see her.

"Sweetheart," Marion said as she embraced her son.

"Indiana made his way back over to Eva. ""Mom?""

"Mom," Eva confirmed.

"And you didn't tell me?"

"I was told not to."

"By who?"

"By me," Marion said before turning her attention to Mutt again as Indiana looked at Eva's leg before they came closer to the two. "What are you doing here?"

"Forget about me. Are you all right?" Mutt was concerned.

"Young man, I specifically told you not to come here."

"You never wrote that. You never said that in any phone calls."

"Enough," Spalko said stepping in. "So, Doctor Jones, you will help us?" a gun sounded from behind Marion and Eva. "A simple "yes" will do."

"Oh, Marion you had to go and get yourself kidnapped," Indiana teased dryly.

"Not like you're getting kidnapped and dragging Eva along with you is any better."

"Hey, I am his assistant." Eva butted in. "If I don't go he can't do anything, and you know that."

Indiana huffed and looked at Mutt. "Same old, same old."

XXXXX

Eva and Indiana were led over to Oxley who sat in front of them. "Henry Jones, Junior." Oxley was doing something with his hand. "Henry Jones, Junior."

"That's right, Ox. Listen to me." Indiana began.

"To lay their hands on that Golden Key that ope's the Palace of Eternity." Oxley put his hand on Indiana's shoulder.

"Palace off…" Eva began before being cut off by Spalko.

"It's from Milton. He's said it before. Why?"

"Ox," Indiana said desperately, "you got to tell us how to get to Akator or they're gonna kill Marion."

"Through eyes at last I saw in tears, here in death's dream kingdom…" Ox went on.

"Harold, they're gonna kill Abner's little girl." Eva said. "You need to tell us how to get there."

"We need…" Indiana began but Eva cut him off by grabbing Oxley's hand.

"Henry, his hand."

Indiana looked at Oxley's hand in Eva's and saw that it was still moving and then turned to Spalko. "Get me paper. Something to write with."

Spalko gave an order and a pencil and paper pad were brought over to them. Eva put the pencil in Oxley's hand as Indiana held the pad up for him. "Auto writing," Spalko said in awe. "I should have seen this."

"Henry Jones, Junior." Oxley began to draw.

"Right. That's right Ox."

"Three times it drops. The way down."

"Three times…" Indiana sounded like he was trying to remember.

"Pictographs," Spalko said as she watched Oxley draw.

Eva looked over the pad and corrected her. "Ideograms."

When Oxley had finished Indiana took the pencil and stood up with the pad, helping Eva stand as well. "Good, Ox. Good." Indiana walked away, towards the bon fire. "The wavy lines mean water, of course."

"Closed eyes means sleep," Eva said from beside him as they paced back and forth together as Spalko followed them. "The sun with the arc over the sky stands for time, duration."

"The word "now" is "until." These two close together, the horizon and the snake, mean one thought."

"The horizon stood for the world, but it didn't mean the Earth. It meant big, great."

The two of them looked at each other and translated the ideogram. "The water sleeps until the great snake."

"These aren't just drawings," Indiana realized, "Their directions."

Eva turned to Spalko. "Get us a map!" A table and a map of the Amazon were placed near them and the three of them surrounded it.

"The great snake is the Amazon, of course, but "sleep," what water sleeps?"

After a moment Eva pointed to the map. "Here. Sono. The Portuguese word for "sleep.""

"Yes, good. Exactly." Indiana sounded slightly distracted and didn't notice that Marion, Mutt, and Oxley were led closer to the table. "He wants us to follow this curve of the Sono down to where it meets the Amazon to the southeast. After that, I can't tell."

"Kingdom of dreams, tears and eyes…" Eva sounded confused. "I have no idea what he means. This could be the route, though."

"It's a completely unexplored part of the canopy," Indiana agreed.

Suddenly, almost out of nowhere, Mutt punched a soldier that stood beside the table and shoved the table up into Spalko, knocking her over. He ran back to his mother and pushed her through the tent followed by the rest of their group. Mutt broke a lantern across the exit to block the Russians.

The five ran through the jungle as Indiana spoke intensely to Mutt while helping Eva run faster. "Kid, what the hell are we doing, kid?"

"They were going to kill us," Mutt said as if it explained everything.

"Well, maybe," Eva said.

"Somebody had to do something!"

"Something else would have been good," Indiana said to him.

"At least I got a plan," Mutt retorted.

"This is intolerable. Harold, for God's sake, keep up."

The five of them stopped running as they heard the sounds of Russian soldiers. Oxley and Mutt stood near the brush while Eva, Marion, and Indiana stood in a clearer spot. Eva, Marion, and Indiana began to sink down into the sand below them.

Mutt looked behind them and saw them sinking and attempted to go for them. "Mom? Auntie?"

"Stay back!" Eva and Marion yelled in unison at him.

"Stop! Stop! Stop! Don't move," Indiana said to Marion as she tried to get out. "Moving makes space, space will make you sink."

"No, I think I can get out if I can just…"

"Stop it!" Eva said to her sharply. "You're pulling against a vacuum. It's like trying to lift a car. Just stay calm."

"Okay, I'm calm."

"What is it? Quicksand?" Mutt stood from where he had fallen.

"I'm calm," Marion continued. "I'm sinking but I'm calm."

"No, it's a dry sand pit," Indiana answered Mutt. "Quicksand is a mix of sand, mud and water. And depending on the viscosity, it's not as dangerous as people sometimes think."

"For Pete's sake, Jones, we're not in school."

"Don't worry," Eva said to her calmly. "There's nothing to worry about unless there's a…" a pocket of air bust to the top of the sand beside her. "A void collapse."

Indiana shrugged and turned to Mutt. "I'll go get something to pull you out," Mutt said wandering into the jungle.

Indiana noticed Oxley squatting where he once stood. "Ox, don't just sit there. For God's sake, man, go get help!"

"Help?"

"Help!"

"Help?"

"Help! Go!" Oxley left the three.

Marion hid her face in her hands and made a decision. "Mutt can be a little impetuous."

"It's not the worst quality in the world," Indiana said to her. Another void collapsed near Indiana. "Keep your arms above the surface. When the kid comes back, grab on."

"Jones, he…" Marion's voice shook slightly.

"He's a good kid, Marion. You should get off his back about school."

"Mutt, I mean…"

"Not everybody's cut out for it."

"His name is Henry," Eva put in for Marion hoping to get Indiana to listen.

It seemed to work. "Henry. Good name."

"He's your son," Marion said.

Indiana was still for a moment and then looked to Eva who nodded in confirmation and said, "Henry Jones the Third."

Indiana was quiet again before getting riled up. "Why the hell didn't you make him finish school? And why were you content with the fact that he didn't?"

Mutt returned with something to pull them out with and threw it to his mother. "Mom, grab on! Grab it."

"Yeah," she said holding tightly as Mutt pulled her out.

Mutt pulled Eva out next. "Come on, Auntie. Pull, pull, pull, pull, pull."

"I'm out," she said reaching a safe area.

Mutt turned back to Indiana and threw him the snake he had found to pull them out with. "Grab it."

"Just grab it, Indy," Eva pleaded with him as Indiana began to freak out.

"It's a rat snake," Mutt said

"Rat snakes aren't that big," Indiana said shakily.

"Well, this one is, all right? It's not even poisonous. Now grab on."

"Go get something else."

"Like what?"

"Like a rope or something."

"There's no Sears and Roebuck here! Grab the snake!"

"Maybe I can touch the bottom."

"Honey, there is no bottom. Now grab it." Eva spoke.

"No, I think I can feel it with my feet."

"Grab the snake!" Mutt threw it in Indianan's direction again.

"Stop calling it that!" Indiana yelled at him.

"It's a snake! What do you want me to call it?"

"Say "rope!""

"What?"

"Say "grab the rope.""

The trio looked at each other and then back at Indiana saying, "Grab the rope."

Indiana grabbed on to the snake around its head and Mutt pulled him up saying, "Hold tight. It's slimy."

Once Indiana was up he pulled Eva over to him so that she was between him and the snake saying, "Get rid of that thing, will you, Son?"

Mutt threw the snake away from them. "Afraid of snakes. You are one crazy old man." Mutt joined them on the jungle floor as they caught their breath.

They heard a menacing cackle and they turned to see Mac coming from the main road. "Why do you have to do everything the hard way, Jonesey?"

Soldiers surrounded them and Oxley stepped out in front of them.

"Good work, Ox. Thanks." Indiana's tone was sarcastic.

"Help," Oxley said genuinely as if it explained everything.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Ok so this chapter's really gonna suck but just bear with me.

XXXXX

Guess What

Eva, Marion, Indiana, and Mutt were all tied up with their hands behind their back. Marion just told Mutt that Indiana was his father.

"No," Mutt denied. "No, he was British. My dad was an RAF pilot. He was a war hero. Not some school teacher!"

"No, sweetheart. Colin was your stepfather," Marion told him calmly. "We started dating when you were three months old. He was a good man."

"Wait, wait, wait. Colin? As in Colin Williams?" Indiana cut in surprised and looked to Eva who was beside him. "As in your younger elder brother?"

"What? Did you think that she would marry George?" Evaretorted.

"I think we both knew it wasn't going to work anyway, Jones,"Marion said calmly.

"That doesn't matter," Indiana said.

"Wait, what doesn't matter?" Eva was confused as she looked from Marion to Indiana questioningly.

Marion sighed and looked at Eva. "I always told you everything, Eva you were like a sister to me. But there's one thing that me and Jones kept from you."

"What are you talking about mom?" Mutt was even more confused than Eva was.

"Marion and I never loved each other," Indiana said looking to Eva.

"What?" Eva and Mutt yelled simultaneously and then began to speak at the same time.

"So what was I? Some kind of accident baby that was never supposed to happen?"

"Then why the hell did you propose to her? And why the hell did you say yes? And why the hell are you both only telling me now?"

"Eva, please, we never meant to get married," Marion tried to explain. "We were just together for so long that we thought that we might as well. And then Colin started to finally seemed to get interested in me and I always liked him."

"What? Wait, are you telling me that your relationship with Indiana was based on a jealously plot to get to my brother?That's just idiotic. He was always been in love with you, since he saw you after the Ark!"

"Well, to be fair it wasn't just I included in the plot. I was trying to get you to see that Indiana loved you more than me."

"What?" Mutt and Eva were simultaneous again.

"For love of God, shut the hell up," the soldier cried to them.

"Yeah, Marion, let's not have this conversation in front of the kid."

"Hey, you are not my dad," Mutt told him.

"You bet I am. And I got news for you. You're gonna go back and finish school."

"Really? What happened to, "There's not a damn thing wrongwith it, kid, and don't let anyone tell you different?" You don't remember saying that?"

"That was before I was your father!"

"You're not my father!"

"Oh, yes he is your father," Marion said to him as the soldier took a cloth from his bag and began to use it as a gag on her.

"Why didn't you tell me about this kid, Marion? I think I had a right to know," Indiana said

"You vanished after that!"

"I wrote."

"A year later at my insistence," Eva said to him.

"By then, Mutt was born and I was married," Marion said through the gag.

"Why are you bothering to tell me now?"

"Because I thought we were gonna die!"

"Not yet!" Indiana lifted his leg and kicked the soldier in the face.

Mutt and Indiana took turns kicking the soldier until he was knocked out. Mutt raised his foot into the air and wiggled out his knife that he had hidden there. Using his feet he threw the knife onto Indiana's shoulder. Indiana hit the wall causing the blade fell into his hands and he was able to cut himself free.

He leaned over to Marion first and cut her lose before turning to Eva. "You have to believe that I never wanted to hurt you Eva. I've spent most of my life wanting you by my side. The crusade showed me that."

"That was twenty years ago," She said as he helped her up. "Why the hell did you wait?"

Indiana cut Mutt free, cut a hole in the truck bed covering, and threw Mutts' knife back to him before turning back to her. "Because, I love you, and I was too scared to admit it to anymore." Indiana kissed her hard and she responded before he broke it.

"Be careful," Eva said as Indiana climbed through the hole. The truck swerved and the trio in the back were tossed around for a second. They saw the Russian that had been driving the truck roll across the ground before the back window of the cabopened.

Eva climbed into the cab next to Indiana and they smiled at each other before looking back ahead. "We got to get Oxley back, get our hands on that skull and get to Akator before they do. Grab the wheel." He slid through the window of the cab and Marion and Mutt slid into the cab, Mutt was in the middle.

"What's he gonna do now?" Mutt asked and Eva laughed.

"I don't think he plans that far ahead," Marion said to him.

"I can tell you with certainty that he doesn't," Eva agreed.

Indiana pushed between Mutt and Eva holding a bazooka, making the cab jump in surprise. "Scooch over, will you, Son?"

"Don't call me "son." Don't," Mutt said

"I think I'd cover my ears if I were you," Indiana said setting up the sights and aiming for the path trimmer at the head of the line. He fired and the hit resulted in one of the blades dislocating from the trimmer, making it jump over all the cars behind it.

"Duck!" Eva yelled before doing so herself.

The blade passed over the top of the truck and continued on behind them. Indiana pushed Mutt into the back of the truck and moved Marion to Mutt's spot. "Move! Move!" he pointed to aduck that was ahead of them and said, "Pull up next to that duck."

Eva did so and Indiana cleared the duck of soldiers and waved them over. "Come on! Come on!" Mutt jumped over first and Marion and Eva followed him as the soldier that had been knocked out earlier regained conscious. The soldier tried to grab Eva but then noticed that no one was driving.

Indiana sped the duck forward and Eva saw Spalko not that far ahead of them with a gun. "Look out!" she said ducking. Spalkobegan to fire at them. Indiana sped to the other side of the duck Man and Oxley were in and Spalko stopped.

Indiana looked over to Oxley and said, "Ox has the skull. Eva, take the wheel."

Eva moved over as Indiana climbed over the front seat and Mutt complained, "That's not fair she drove the truck."

"Don't be a child. Find something to fight with." Some of theRussians began to shoot at them and Indiana jumped onto them when they stopped to reload, knocking one off.

Mac opened his arms out wide. "Jonesey!" he seemed happy before Indiana punched him in the face. Indiana fought off the rest of the guards until Mac spoke again. "Jonesey."

"Hi, Mac." Indiana punched him again, disorientating him. Indiana punched the last soldier onto the back of the duck and moved the duck so that it went over a fallen log.

In Eva's duck Mutt found a box that held Spalko's rapiers and picked one up. He spotted Spalko's truck not that far away from them and that Spalko had her hands on the skull. He crawled up to the front of the duck and used the rapier to take the skull from her and put it in the backseat where his mother was and followed it over. He and Spalko began to fight.

"Get on your front foot. Riposte."

"It's not a match, Mom!"

Spalko disarmed him and took the skull back. Mutt retrieved his sword and Spalko caught him by his wrist as he did hers. "You fight like a young man. Eager to begin, quick to finish," She said before punching him in the stomach.

Eva was looking back and yelled to him, "Mutt, disengage!" She didn't see the large branch that was headed towards them on her side and was hit in the head.

Mutt stepped back onto the duck and found himself split between the two still fighting Spalko. That was until Indiana rammed his duck into Spalko's truck which ran into Eva's duck, and caused Mutt and Spalko to switch places.

Spalko looked up at Eva and Marion and they looked back at her. As Spalko took up a sword Eva stepped on the brakes, sending Spalko over the front of the duck. Spalko grabbed onto the gun at the front of the duck to help her up and it fired at Eva and Marion who ducked down to avoid being hit.

Once the gun stopped Eva sat up and looked ahead of them to see Mutt struggling with a soldier for the skull. Spalko climbed back onto the top of the duck's nose and spotted Eva, pointing the gun at her. Eva yelled and ducked down again as Spalkoresumed firing.

The duck sped towards the back of the truck and Spalko was tossed onto bed. She spotted Mutt and began to beat him.

Eva drove off into the jungle to get away from the soldiers. Marion sat up and looked at Eva. "Now where are we going?"

"Just a different way to hopefully the same place." Eva said as they flew through the jungle.


	8. Chapter 8

Siafu, Water, and Gold

Eva drove towards the sound of gun shots and came into a clearing that was quickly becoming covered by Siafu. Mutt and Mac were running on one side of the clearing and the Russians were shooting at them from the other. She pulled up next to Mutt and Mac. "Jump in! Come on! Come on!"

Mutt and Mac jumped into the back of the duck and Eva crossed in front of the Russians truck headed for the cliff edge.

Mutt and Mac seemed to be the only ones worried. "Auntie, there's a cliff."

Eva turned the duck just before it fell off the cliff and she looked down. She spotted a tree growing from the side of the cliff and pulled Marion to look at it. Marion looked at the tree and back to Eva and nodded. Eva turned back for Indiana as he was getting his hat.

"Jonesey," Mac yelled, "come on!"

"Get in, Jones!" Marion called to him.

Indiana picked up Oxley and put him in first before getting in himself. As soon as they were in Eva pressed the gas and they headed toward the cliff.

"Auntie, stop," Mutt said from behind her.

"Eva, slow down," Mac sounded frantic.

Indiana stood over the back of her seat and slid in between her and Marion. "Honey, stop. You're gonna go off the cliff."

"That's the idea," Marion said to him.

"Bad idea. Give me the wheel," Indiana said trying to grab the wheel from Eva's hands.

Eva shoved him back and said, "Trust me. I'm your assistant. You've done much more dangerous stunts." She put her foot down on the gas and they sped off the cliff and landed on the tree that was outgrowing from the cliff face. The tree bent and gently landed them near the water. Eva nicely pressed the gas and they slipped quietly into the river. The tree bent back to its original shape and hit the Russians that were climbing down the cliff face. Some of them fell to the rocks below them.

Indiana leaned over the seat again and spoke to Eva. "Don't ever do that again."

Eva smiled and looked at Indiana, "Yes, dear."

Eva herd Oxley speak behind her. "Three times it drops."

Indiana leaned over her shoulder again. "Reverse. Put it in reverse. Full reverse!"

"I'm trying! I'm trying!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Auntie!"

But it was too late to do anything. The duck was already headed over the waterfall. At the bottom everyone climbed back in sopping wet.

Oxley pointed to land. "The way down."

"He means by land." Mutt said sitting next to him. "He came by land."

"Three times it drops?" Indiana asked Oxley. Who repeated and confirmed.

"What is he talking about?" Marion sounded a little annoyed.

"He means one," Eva pointed behind her at the waterfall they had just fallen over, then ahead in fear. "Two!" They went over a second water fall and everyone climbed back in again. "Three." She said quietly as they looked ahead to see a giant water fall ahead of them. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Indiana take his hat off as he prepared to drop.

When they fell over the final fall they all reconvened on an island that was in the center of the water that now surrounded them. Mutt helped his mother up onto land with Mac behind them. Indiana helped Oxley on shore past Eva who was still griping onto the steering wheel.

Indian went back over to Eva and gently pulled the wheel from her grasp. "Let it go, babe. You're safe with me now." She did so and hugged him tightly before returning to normal.

"Through eyes that last I saw in tears." Oxley was looking up.

"The Golden vision re-appears," Mutt finished excitedly.

The entire group looked up and saw what looked like a man's head with twin waterfalls coming out of its eyes.

"Gold." Mac said from next to Oxley. "I'm in."

"Through eyes…" Mutt thought out. "Through eyes in tears. We got to go through that waterfall!"

Indiana walked up to Oxley with Eva trailing behind taking the skull from Oxley. "The skull has to be returned. I'll do it nobody else has to come."

"Who cares? It's brought us nothing but trouble." Mutt stood next to Indiana and then gestured to Oxley. "Look what it did to him."

Indiana turned away from them. "I have to return it."

"Why you?" Eva stood in front of him defiantly.

"Because it told me to."

"Then I'm going with you because as your assistant I can't let you go alone!"

Indiana slightly smiled at her and the group made their way through the waterfall.

Inside the cave through the water fall they came across pictures on the walls. Eva leaned over to look at them better. "Ochre, iron oxide, charcoal."

"How old is this?" Mac sounded excited at the minimal find.

"Four or five thousand years. Old as the pyramid's," Indiana told him. "Sun worshippers, like the Egyptians."

Eva saw Mutt go over to a torch in the wall of the cave. "This is fresh. These were just used."

They lit the torch and Indiana held it as the group made their way through the pictures on the wall. Eva knelt down to one and then back up to Indiana. "More worshippers, but that's not the sun they're worshipping."

"Someone came." Indiana looked around as he spoke. "And taught the Ugha farming. Irrigation."

Marion noticed that Oxley was not with them and looked over to him. "Ox, what is it?"

In front of Oxley was a picture of the god that the Ugha had worshiped. Indiana stood by Oxley. "I think I understand, Ox." Oxley looked skeptical. "Someone came?"

Oxley looked pleased and then held the skull up so that the shadow matched the drawing of the god.

"Are they the same?" Marion asked.

"There were more." Eva said looking at the drawings that continued on the walls. "Look. Thirteen in a circle."

Oxley ascended a set of steps before pausing and Indiana said behind him, 'Show us the way, Ox." Oxley continued leading them out of the caverns until they heard a whooshing sound as if several things were moving quickly through the air. They stopped, looked and noticed men coming after them. "Let's go. Go, go, go! Run! Run, go!"

The group ran out of the caverns and down the steps of the entrance temple. They were half way to the temple in the center of the hidden city, when they tripped on the weapons the Ugha had thrown at them.

"Jones!"

"Henry!"

"Jonesey!"

"Oxley!" Indiana crawled his way over to Oxley. "You were here before. How did you get past them?"

Oxley uncovered the skull and stood up, holding it above his head. The Ugha backed off and Indiana led Oxley to Mac. "Come on, Mac. Come on! Come on, Mac!" Mac crawled with them as they went over to Marion and Mutt. Indiana led Oxley over to Eva and picked her up. "Come on, Honey. Let's go. Come on Ox."

"To lay their hands on that golden key that ope's the Palace of Eternity."

"You did good Ox." Eva said to him as the group rushed to the temple. "You did good."

The six of them made their way up the temple steps. At the top Mac spoke. "City of Gold. So where's all the gold? Look at the state of this place. What a stupid legend. What a waste of my time."

"Ox was here before, but he couldn't get into the temple," Eva cut him off sharply as Oxley and Indiana stepped down into the lower inner platform, "so he took the skull back to the cemetery, where he found it."

Oxley bent down and grabbed a handful of sand, stood, and let it run through his fingers and into Indiana's hand. "To lay their hands on that golden key that ope's the Palace of Eternity."

"Key that ope's the palace. The obelisk? The Obelisk is the key?"

Oxley began touching the faces that surrounded the obelisks' base until one moved. Sand began to fall from underneath the face and Oxley caught it in his hand.

"You figured this out in your cell, didn't you, professor?" Indiana asked following him around.

Mac gently pushed Oxley out of the way. "Excuse me professor," he said before attempting to wriggle the face out of its hole.

Indiana climbed the stairs to the first level of the temple and grabbed a brick from the top stair. He turned back to the face Mac was wriggling. Mac turned around and moved as Indiana held the brick over his head and brought it down on the face. He handed the brick to Mac, took the face out and looked at Oxley. "Well done." Indiana turned back to Mac and took the brick from his hands. "Go get your own."

In teams they took the faces out of the base as fast as they could, sand pouring out onto their feet. The obelisk started to collapse into the base bringing the four pieces that rested on pillars up to join in the center. As soon as all four pieces met above the base, the sand fell out from under the adventurers, causing them to fall onto stone slabs that could act as steps.

There was a sound that could be described as breaking rock. "Listen!" Indiana made everyone aware. "Hear that?" The stone slab stairs that they had landed on began to slowly be pulled into the walls. "Get up! Move! Ox, move!" The six people quickly ran for the bottom of the stairs. "Faster! Faster! This is not good. Move, Ox. Move!"

The six got as close as they could before they couldn't move anymore. The slabs beneath their feet disappeared from under them and they fell into the water below. Indiana landed mostly on his feet and shook the water.

Mutt was submersed under the water; he stood up and helped his mother up before noticing Oxley looking through the water. "He dropped it. He dropped the skull!"

As Marion and Mutt began helping Oxley look for the skull Indiana picked Eva up from the water and held her close. "You okay? How's your leg?"

"I'm fine but let's not ever do that again, right?"

She pulled back from him and he looked down at her. They leaned in to kiss each other, but Mutt had other plans. "Hold this!" Mutt forced them apart and handed Indiana a body of a warrior that had died on the spikes. Mutt continued his search as Eva put her hand on Oxley's shoulder.

"Ox, you okay?"

Mutt found the skull and brought it up from the water handing it to Oxley who cradled it like a child. "All right," Mutt said looking around at everyone, "Let's go." He tromped his way through the water to what looked like the opening to the next chamber. "This way?"

Indiana smirked at him and threw down the warrior before leading the way to the door to the next chamber. He took a torch off the wall and Mac lit it with his lighter. Indiana took Eva's hand and walked in first. When they reached a well-lit chamber, Indiana placed the torch into a jar near the entrance and led the way in.

Mac was last and apparently pleased with the sight before him. "Now that's more like it." The entirety of the room was covered in gold and bronze statues jewelry and other items.

"There are artifacts from every era of early history," Indiana said in awe.

"Macedonian. Sumerian," Eva was weaving around the piles as though she were dancing.

"This place is the mother lode," Mutt commented looking around.

"Etruscan. Babylonian," Indiana continued

"There isn't a museum in the world that wouldn't sell its soul for this lot," Mac said to them.

"Early Egyptian," Eva and Indiana said at the same time coming across a stone statue of an Egyptian king.

"Dozens of museums. Hundreds of them, Jonesey!"

"Collectors," Indiana breathed.

"Henry," Eva said quietly in awe, "they were archeologists."

He smiled down at her and kissed her forehead affectionately before turning to look at Oxley who was standing in front of what looked like a door. The uncovered skull in his hands was humming and the inside seemed to be moving with color. Eva, Marion, Mutt, and Indiana gathered around Oxley and touched the skull, only to be slightly shocked by its power.

Mutt looked up and the door. "How do we open it?"

Indiana looked up at the door. There was an indentation on the door that was painted with a tall skeleton inside of it. He looked back to Oxley and took the skull from him saying, "I'll give it back, Ox. I promise." He walked up the steps to the door and examined the skeleton closely. He raised the skull above his head and gently placed it level with the skull of the painting.

The arrow that was poised above two circular drums fell, causing the drums to fall down the sides and push two dragon locks down. The door slanted open, splitting the skeleton painting in half revealing the passageway behind it.

Indiana handed the skull back to Oxley, who covered it again, before going inside with Eva close behind. The group followed and they found themselves inside a circular room with thirteen crystal skeletons sitting on thrones. The group looked around and saw that one of the skeletons had no skull and was slumped forward on its throne.

Oxley uncovered the skull. "No more forever waiting. Soon now."

As Oxley was about to put the skull back on the skeleton there was a sound of a gun cocking behind the group. They turned around to see Mac holding a gun on them. "Sorry, Jonesey."

"So what are you, a triple agent?" Indiana sounded furious.

"Nah, I just lied about being a double."

Spalko entered the room behind Mac and stared in awe. "Look at them. Still waiting for the return of the one who was lost." She walked around looking at the skeletons. "They are a hive mind. One being physically separate, but with a collective consciousness." She spotted Oxley and walked over to him. "More powerful together than they could ever be apart." She attempted to take the skull from him. He resisted until she stared him down. Taking the skull she walked to the incomplete skeleton. "Imagine what they could tell us."

"I can't imagine." Indiana said stepping away from her. "Neither could the humans that built this temple, and neither can you."

"Belief, Doctor Jones, is a gift you have yet to receive." Spalko said climbing the steps to the throne. "My sympathies."

"Oh, I believe, sister." Indiana took more steps back grabbing Eva's hand. "That's why I'm down here."

Spalko held the skull up to the skeleton as if to admire it when the skull zoomed out of her hands and attached itself to the rest of the skeleton and the skeleton sat up to look like the other twelve. Spalko backed away from the skeleton and Oxley stepped forward and began speaking in a different language.

Indiana stood in front of Oxley and beside Spalko. "Mayan. He's speaking Mayan."

"What does he say?"

"He says he's grateful and he wants… It. It wants to give us a gift." Indiana looked back at the skeleton. "A big gift."

Spalko stood closer to the skeleton again. "Tell me everything you know. I want to know everything. I want to know."

The skeleton turned its head as if to look at her and Indiana muttered into Eva's ear, "I've got a bad feeling about this."

The skulls began to hum in unison. "Henry? The eyes."

The eyes of each of the skeletons began to smoke as the humming seemed to turn into more of a buzzing. Everyone heard a roar above their heads but looked around at the thrones as they started to break into pieces. The room around them began to move.

Indiana looked around and noticed that Mac jumped through the passageway. He stepped over to Eva who was supporting herself on Marion.

"What are they? Spacemen," Mutt yelled over the machine.

"Interdimensional beings, in point of fact." Oxley replied calmly.

"Welcome back, Ox." Indiana walked closer to his friend pulling Eva with him.

There was a whirring sound above them as the ceiling began to collapse. They looked up and saw the ceiling give away but it went upwards into a machine behind it. "What the hell is that," Marion yelled in front of Oxley.

"A portal! A pathway to another dimension." Oxley held her shoulders and pointed up.

"I don't think we want to go that way," Indiana said pulling Eva, Marion, and Oxley to the exit.

Eva landed on her side. She scrambled up and the three of them waited for Mutt and Indiana. When they came the group ran through the treasure room. Indiana stopped midway and turned around to Mac who was hastily gathering gold and packing it in things he could carry.

"Mac! Mac! Come on!" Indiana called to the gold lusting man. Mac didn't move, the buzzing from the portal became louder, and Indiana went closer to Mac. "Mac! Mac, damn it, now!"

As Mac turned to follow the temple shook and he fell to the ground as gravity seemed to pull him into the event horizon. Indiana threw the end of his whip down to Mac for him to grab, wrapping the other around his wrist. "Grab it!" the artifacts began to tip over and the "gravity" increased. "Use your legs, Mac. I can't do it alone."

Mac looked up at Indiana. "Jonesey," he winked, "I'm gonna be all right." The pull of the event horizon pulled him into the air and he let go with a yell.

Indiana stumbled back and ran up the steps. "Go!"

The group made their way through irrigation tunnels as the water wheels broke off from their stands and destroyed the path way behind them. At the other side was a dead end room, its only exit at the top. They had no time to move when the water built up and flooded the entrance. Indiana fought to keep him and Eva afloat before they collided with the other three. The water quickly pushed them up and out of the temple, making them land near an outpost.

They climbed up the steps to the outpost and watched as the alien's ship broke the temple and the surrounding grounds apart. Underneath they saw the shiny metallic of the ship's hull as it lifted into the air and sped away.

The rubble that had lifted with the ship remained stationary for a moment and then fell. Some of the rubble broke apart the canyon walls that gave shelter to the valley, and the water behind it rushed through, sweeping clean all evidence of the alien's presence.

"Like a broom to their foot prints," Oxley said quietly.

"Where did they go," Eva asked beside Indiana. "Space?"

"Not into space. Into the space between spaces."

"I don't understand," Mutt said to Indiana. "Why was the legend of a city of gold?"

"The Ugha word for gold translates to "treasure." But their treasure wasn't gold. It was knowledge. Knowledge was their treasure."

Indiana sighed and sat down on a ledge and patted his knee looking at Eva, "Come here, Honey." She smiled and snuggled into his side with a happy smile. Oxley and Marion sat around them.

Mutt remained standing. "What? We're just going to sit here?"

"Night falls fast in the jungle, kid. You don't want to climb down the mountain in the dark," Indiana said holding Eva close to him.

"No? I can. Who's coming with me? Come on." Mutt began to make his way down the steps to the outpost.

"Why don't you stick around, Junior?"

"I don't know," Mutt said turning around to face him. "Why didn't you, Dad?"

"Dad!" Oxley sounded amused then looked to Indiana in shock. "Dad?"

Indiana tipped his hat up and looked toward the heavens. "Somewhere your grandpa is laughing."

"Or shaking in anger, one of the two," Eva said smiling.


	9. Chapter 9

The Wedding and The End

Indiana paced the front of the church with Mutt and Shorty standing behind him. Shorty had asked Eva to go to privet schools while she was in the war and was now slightly shorter than Indiana.

"Relax, dad, it's not like this is gonna kill you," Mutt said straightening his tie.

"I should have done this sooner." Indiana said continuing to pace.

"If it helps you, Indy," Shorty spoke up, "mom never thought ill of you."

"Thanks, Shorty that doesn't help. She should have. At least a few times."

Shorty and Mutt rolled their eyes at the same time as Charles ran into the church with the bible that the priest would use. "Here you are, Henry."

"Thanks, Charlie." Indiana said clapping him on the shoulder. "What time is it?"

"Almost time." Marion popped up beside him smiling. "You look about as nervous as she does."

"At least she's still here."

"Shorty, go get to your spot."

Shorty nodded and left for the small piano seat and began to play a short interlude as people began to seat and take their places. Indiana looked down the aisle to see familiar faces looking back at him. The wedding march began and his eyes locked onto Eva. She was wearing a simple off white summer dress, her hair was pulled up, and she had a little veil that covered her face. She held no flowers.

When she reached the altar, the priest began speaking. Most of which neither of them heard until, "Henry Jones, Junior, and Evangeline Williams, insomuch in that you two have agreed to live together in holy matrimony, have promised your love for each other by these vows the joining of your hands and the giving of these rings, I now declare you husband and wife. Whom God hath put together, let no one tear asunder. Congratulations. You may kiss your bride."

Indiana pulled Eva gently to him and kissed her. Her arms wound around his neck and he dipped her to the ground. The guests stood up and began clapping as Indiana returned her up straight. They broke apart and smiled at each other. Shorty began playing a little tune he had come up with for them as they walked away from the altar, Eva arm in arm with Marion, Indiana with Mutt.

"Well done, Henry," Oxley said to them before they passed.

"Thanks, Ox," Indiana and Mutt chorused together. Indiana smiled at Mutt and Mutt walked off leaving them to be congratulated.

Mutt picked up the camera and stood to take a picture when the doors to the chapel blew open. Mutt looked at them and then noticed that the wind had blown Indiana's hat off the hat stand and that the hat had landed at his feet. He picked it up and looked at it.

As he was going to put it on Indiana took it from his grasp and fixed it to his head as he and Eva walked past. Indiana smiled back at him as Shorty came up. "Don't be offended. He never let me wear his hat either."

"It is a nice hat."

"Yes it is."

"Where did he get it?"

"Not a damned clue."

END!


End file.
